


christmas brought me to the er (day 24)

by asexualsartemis



Series: Buck, Eddie, Christopher, and the puppy [2]
Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: Christmas Eve, Christmas Party, Christmas Presents, Injury, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Moving In Together
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-24
Updated: 2019-12-24
Packaged: 2021-02-26 20:54:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,719
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21895096
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/asexualsartemis/pseuds/asexualsartemis
Summary: For the 'I'm Your Buddie' discord server's 25 Days of Buddie Advent event of 2019.Day 24: Christmas in the ER.Ft. Blaze Buckley the puppy.
Relationships: Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz
Series: Buck, Eddie, Christopher, and the puppy [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1550290
Comments: 9
Kudos: 162
Collections: 25 Days Of Buddie





	christmas brought me to the er (day 24)

**Author's Note:**

> Big shout-out to @itsmylifekay for betaing this!

Getting Blaze had been a fluke, but it had led to Buck's first kiss with Eddie, and Christopher being the happiest he's ever seen him.

The dog lasts almost a month with Buck before he begins to drive Buck up the wall, crying all night and never letting him sleep. It is apparent every time that he misses Christopher, and that makes Buck miss Christopher, which leads to him missing Eddie more.

On night twenty-seven, Buck sighs heavily. He throws the covers off his body and rolls out of bed, pulling on a hoodie and slipping his feet into his Nike slides.

"Ok, boy, let's go for a walk." Maybe that would calm him down enough to sleep.  _ Both _ of them.

Grabbing the leash from beside the door, Buck leads the excited pup out of his apartment. The two walk along at a leisurely pace. Blaze sniffs everything he can reach as Buck's mind wanders in the time between ordering Blaze that, no, he can't eat that, or  _ that _ , or that over there.

He had promised Eddie that he'd take the brunt of the caretaking of Blaze, but it was clear the dog had formed an attachment to Christopher, much as the boy had to him. It broke Buck's heart to see the sadness that filled the Christopher's eyes every time he kissed Blaze goodbye.

Buck felt the same when he bid his boys goodbye at night. His apartment was always so quiet and cold when it was just him and Blaze. No amount of Blaze's natural radiating heat could cure the longing they both felt.

Lost in his thoughts, Buck lets Blaze lead them up and down blocks until he starts pulling hard, knocking Buck back to reality.

"Whoa, Blaze, st—"

The dog gives a final tug and slips from his collar ( _ Knew I should've bought that damn harness _ , Buck thought), bolting off down the street. "Shit," Buck curses, lunging forward in a run after Blaze as the dog barks happily down the road, not a care in the world that it was nearly daybreak and people were sleeping. Until finally, Blaze detours into a yard and…

"You little shit." 

Buck hears Eddie's sleepy voice and his heart does a weird convulsion in his chest. 

"What are y— Buck?"

Buck chuckles, breathless. He throws his hands up in surrender. "It was all him, I swear."

"Blaze!" comes a happy squeal as Christopher hobbles around his father and Blaze pads over, tail wagging so hard he almost falls over as Christopher envelopes the canine in a hug. Buck's face splits into a beaming smile, then falters in confusion as he notices Eddie's jacket hanging with only one arm through.

"Going somewhere?"

Eddie sighs, tired. "I guess we had the same idea as you two. C'mon, let's go back to bed."

The two men tuck in Christopher, complete with a throw blanket for Blaze at the boy's insistence, before retiring to Eddie's bedroom.

Buck sighs happily when he feels the warmth of Eddie's skin sink into his. He allows Eddie to pull him towards his chest and settle his arms around him. "I think… we have a problem."

"Mm," Eddie hums against the back of Buck's neck. The warmth of his breath sends a delicious shiver down Buck's spine.

"Blaze misses Christopher too much."

"Chris… literally mopes when Blaze isn't here. I thought him not seeing you was bad, but this— it's like he… deflates."

Buck purses his lips, turning slightly to catch Eddie's eyes in the dark. "What do we do?"

"Stay here," Eddie answers with a yawn.

"Okay." Buck's brow furrows in confusion. "But that's a temporary fix."

Eddie sighs softly and drops a kiss to Buck's lips. "Then make it permanent."

Buck sits up abruptly, bringing Eddie up with him. "Wait… are we—? Is Christopher—?"

Eddie hums in his throat and gives Buck another soft kiss. He then drops his lips to the wrinkles Buck gets between his brows when he's confused or surprised. "Christopher is fine—you and Blaze all the time? He'd be ecstatic. It's… lonely here without you. This house finally feels full and it hurts every time you leave."

Buck chuckles to himself. "Are you psychic? I was literally just thinking the same thing. That apartment is nice… But it's big and empty, no matter what I do."

"Then I think we have a solution." Eddie smiled fondly. "Move in here."

Buck's heart thumps hard and fast in his chest. Was this really happening? "Seriously? Are we there yet? What about Christopher? What—"

"Hush, mi amor. You're basically Christopher's second father already." Buck hopes that it is too dark for Eddie to see his flushed cheeks. How was the man so blase about this? "And, man, you basically live here as it is. Trust me, it's not too fast on my end. I love you and Christopher loves you. I honestly could not ask for anything more than that."

Tears spring to Buck's eyes. Eddie wanted to live together? There were no words to convey how important this was to him—how loved and wanted he felt. Instead, Buck let his body do the talking, gently resting his hands behind Eddie's neck and pulling him in for a searing kiss that ends with Eddie sprawled over Buck.

"Is that a yes?" Eddie laughs between kisses. He's smiling so big he has crinkles around his eyes. Buck is warm in more ways than one. Eddie's hand trails down and stops just above Buck's waistband, thumb caressing his heated skin.

"Duh," Buck bites into Eddie's shoulder with a groan, falling into a lazy rhythm with Eddie's hand.

* * *

Christmas arrives with an overly excited Buck. He may miss the crisp air and white fluff from his childhood, but LA somehow managed to exude holiday cheer without it.

It is his first "adult" Christmas—and, more importantly, his first one with Eddie and Christopher at their home  _ as a family _ ; Buck couldn't get enough of thinking that— so Buck wants to go all out. He gets a real tree (with plenty of water, of course) and his heart swells with glee as he watches Christopher's face absolutely light up when he comes home from school to see the tree. 

Buck and Chris immediately get to work decorating the tree with as many ornaments and lights and garland the store had to offer (according to Eddie, at least). Buck even props Christopher on his shoulders to add the star with Blaze barking until Christopher's safely on the ground. Tons of garland and lights and wreaths and reindeer are placed to the point where every inch of the Buckley-Diaz household is covered in something to commemorate the holiday.

In an amazing turn of events, their team wouldn't be stuck at the station, either, so Buck puts it out there that he and Eddie would like to host. Bobby would, by unanimous decision, still be in charge of the cooking (no one wanted to end up with food poisoning), but everyone was encouraged to bring a dish to share.

The first to arrive are Maddie and Chim. Maddie immediately follows Buck around, trying to keep him as calm as possible, as Chim simply accepts the beer Eddie offers him, the two keeping a wide berth from the Whirlwinds Buckley.

As soon as Hen and Karen arrive, Denny makes a beeline for Christopher, their heads soon bent over the new game Denny received from Santa, leaving his poor moms weighed down with gifts.

Bringing up the rear is the Nash/Grant crew — May helping Bobby set up dinner, Harry lost to the boys, and Athena giving everyone warm hugs and kisses then heading straight for the egg nog. Michael and his new beau come, too, and the Buckley-Diaz household is full to bursting with love and cheer and laughter.

Of course, with three boys and a puppy in the house, the peace does not last long.

Crash.

Eddie and Buck bolt towards the back of the house in the next second, hearing the familiar sound of Christopher's crying rising up over Blaze's barks.

"It was an accident," Harry says when the two men burst into the room.

"Yeah, h-he was showing us what he taught Blaze and just… tripped," Denny supplies, eyes wide. It was the truth. Overstimulated with guests, Blaze had moved too quick for Christopher and caused the poor boy to land, hard, on his bedroom floor and arm.

"Shh, baby, you're going to be okay," Eddie soothes, hoisting the crying boy into his arms. He touches his son's wrist with gentle fingers, illicting  a crying a sharp cry from Christopher. He silently nods to Buck.

Buck takes the cue, shifting into crisis mode. "Okay, boys, go out to the living room for now. He's going to be just fine." Buck grabs the keys to his Jeep on his way down the hall.

Karen intercepts a shaken Denny in a hug as he follows behind Buck down the hall. 

"Is everything okay?" Hen asks Buck, concerned.

Buck nods, his face pale. "Apparently Christopher decided that he needed to up the excitement of the day with a trip to the hospital," he tries to joke but it falls flat. He ignores the multiple looks of concern being thrown at him from every direction. "Um, go ahead and eat, drink; be merry! We shall be back."

"Text us once you hear what's going on," Bobby commands softly with a clap on his shoulder and Buck nods. 

Buck's hand is on the doorknob when he pauses to double back to the tree and grabs a small wrapped present. Just in case. He makes it back to the door just in time to head off Eddie and a sobbing Christopher out to the car.

* * *

Unsurprisingly the ER is packed when they arrive at the hospital. A crying Christopher is shifted over to Buck while Eddie checks in at the front desk, leaving Buck to look for seats in the waiting room. All around them people are puking and Buck sighs in frustration. They're in for a long wait.

Since there's no more actual seating, Buck carries Christopher to a somewhat quieter corner and carefully brings them both to the floor, settling Christopher in his lap facing away from all the puking. He sing-hums whatever Christmas carols he can remember and, while they're off-key, it seems to help Christopher calm down. 

He waves Eddie over the second he sees he's done and Eddie joins them, swiftly taping the hospital bracelet around his son's wrist. 

"How're you doing, mijo?" He's calm on the surface but his eyes are full of worry. Buck admires his composure.

"Hurts." Christopher sniffles and Eddie smooths back his curls to press a kiss to his forehead.

"Hopefully it's not as bad as last time," he murmurs.

Buck takes this as his chance to perk the boy up a little. "Last time? Just how many bones have you broken, daredevil?"

Buck's rewarded with a small smile. "Two."

Buck whistles. "Whoa. Okay, let's not make it to four, alright?"

Christopher nods and the trio falls silent. Eddie rests his hand over the one Buck has rested on Christopher's good leg, protective and warm. 

"What do you think is up with them?" Buck whispers over Christopher's head to Eddie, nodding to the rest of the people filling the waiting room.

"I'd say… food poisoning, which thankfully we are  _ not _ here for."

"Yikes, right. Christopher just  _ had _ to break his leg before dinner."

"Like I planned it," Christopher mumbles into Buck's shoulder.

* * *

Two hours later a nurse calls for them. Eddie takes a sleepy Christopher from Buck and Buck groans in absolute relief to wake up his legs again. He makes the walk to the exam room at a slower pace than Eddie, and when he gets there he's taken aback by how small Christopher looks in the bed. He's helped kids on the job before but damn, this hit him hard and it's just a broken wrist! How Eddie had dealt with this before… he had a newfound respect for the man he loved.

"X-ray should be coming for you shortly," the nurse informed them and left the room.

"Are you cold?" Buck hears himself asking. He stands awkwardly in the room, legs still tingly. He's spent enough time of his own here to know just how cold it could get. He also hating feeling… useless.

"Nope. I'm good, Bucky." 

Bucky. He'd never get over how warm that nickname made him feel. And his bright smile to boot. 

Damn, this kid was unreal.

"Buck, sit." Eddie's hand wraps around his bicep and gives a gentle yank. Buck obeys, his leg jumping as soon as he's seated. Eddie's hand squeezes his knee and he stops. "He's fine," Eddie whispers just audible enough for Buck to hear. "Now we wait."

And wait they do. When it did not seem like Chris will be wheeled to X-ray for a little while, Buck decides to give Christopher his present.

"Well, I think now is as good a time as any," Buck breaks the silence and gently tosses a wrapped bundle towards Christopher. "Enjoy, buddy."

Christopher's face lights up as he tears into the paper to reveal: "Dory!"

"Yeah, now you can squeeze her if the pain gets too much."

"Just keep swimming, just keep swimming," Christopher mumbles to himself as he hugs the Dory stuffed animal to his chest.

When Buck returns to his spot, Eddie asks, "What's that about?"

"Inside joke," Buck merely answers with a shrug.

"Mhmm." Eddie's lips curl in a find smile.

"All I'm gonna say is your kid is wicked insightful."

"Oh, I know. Where do you think he gets it from?" Eddie winks with a smile.

Buck snorts just as a technician comes in to wheel Christopher to X-ray. He immediately introduces her to Dory.

"See you in a bit, buddy!"

Buck turns to his boyfriend once Chris is out of sight. "You're amazing, do you know that?"

Eddie blushes and is suddenly shy. "No, I'm not. He is. A few tears and then he's back to it being nothing. I just have to keep his spirits up, he's the one that has to go through it. The possibility of bone breaks is heightened when you have CP. It… comes with the territory."

Buck knows this. He's spent many hours researching the condition so he'd be ready for anything. "Still," he says and wraps his arms around Eddie. He smatters Eddie with kisses. "You're amazing."

"No, you are. Truly. No other person has been able to just… take to him like you have. You see  _ him _ , not the crutches. And you're here, by my side, taking care of him like… " Eddie shakes his head, his eyes shining with so much adoration and love and trust it takes Buck's breath away. "... like you were always meant to. And he looks at you like you hung the goddamn stars or something, and it should make me jealous but I feel the same way."

"Eddie, I—" Here they are, sitting in a hospital room on their first Christmas and Eddie is pouring his heart out to him and how the fuck is this Buck's life? He gapes like a fish for a few moments before responding with a very eloquent "Ditto."

Eddie laughs and pulls Buck in by the collar of his shirt. "I love you, you absolute dork."

Buck happily falls into the kiss. He could stay like this forever. Well, not in a hospital waiting to know how badly your… son (wow, that was nice to think) broke his wrist on your first Christmas as a proper family. But with Eddie, in his arms and kissing him and worrying about and loving Christopher. So much so that he blurts:

"Marry me."

"What?" Eddie asks, surprised.

There's a loud squeal behind them. They both turn to see an over-the-moon Christopher with his arms in the air. "Yes, yes we accept!"

"Well, can't argue with that!" Eddie says and kisses Buck and then both of them give Christopher big kisses on each of his cheeks.

They're so excited that it barely registers when the doctor informs them that Christopher broke his wrist and he'd have to wait to get it cast in the morning. 


End file.
